Ştefan Iovan (born 23 August 1960) is a Romanian former

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

. Iovan played for several clubs, most notably Steaua București, and represented

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

34 times between 1983 and 1990.

Club career

Iovan made his debut at CSM Reşiţa in 1977, before joining the squad of Luceafărul București one year later. Luceafărul was then a team formed by the

Romanian Football Federation Romanian Football Federation (), also known by its acronym FRF, is the sports governing body, governing body of association football, football in Romania. They are headquartered in the capital city of Bucharest and affiliated to FIFA and UEFA sinc ...

to gather the young talents of Romanian football and did not play in any league. Iovan returned to Reşiţa in 1979, but in the winter of 1981 joined Steaua București where he played for ten years, until 1991. In 1991 he joined the English club

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...

, but returned to Steaua București in 1992 for half a season only before signing with

Rapid Bucharest Rapids are sections of a river where the river bed has a relatively steep gradient, causing an increase in water velocity and turbulence. Rapids are hydrological features between a ''run'' (a smoothly flowing part of a stream) and a '' cascade' ...

, then Electroputere Craiova in 1995. His last season as a professional football player was 1996–97 with CSM Reşiţa. Iovan played a total of 373 games in

Divizia A The Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1, is a Romanian professional league for men's association football clubs. Currently sponsored by betting company Superbet, it is officially known as the SuperLiga. It is the country's top ...

and scored 20 goals. He was champion of

on six occasions and also won the

Romanian Cup Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language *** Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language ** Romanian cuisine, tradition ...

three times, all with Steaua Bucharest. He was the team

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

of Steaua when they won the 1986 European Cup and the

UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions; the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's official name was originall ...

. On 25 March 2008 he was decorated by the president of

Traian Băsescu Traian Băsescu (; born 4 November 1951) is a conservative Romanian politician who served as President of Romania from 2004 to 2014. Prior to his presidency, Băsescu served as Romanian Minister of Transport on multiple occasions between 1991 ...

with Ordinul "Meritul Sportiv" — (The Order "The Sportive Merit") class II for his part in winning the 1986 European Cup Final.

International career

At the international level, he played for

in 34 games and scored three goals. He also played 12 times for the Romanian Under 21 side.

Coaching career

After retiring from football he was assistant coach at Steaua București, leading the team once as head coach. He is currently the assistant manager of Steaua București.

Honours

;Steaua București *

Romanian League The Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1, is a Romanian professional league for men's association football clubs. Currently sponsored by betting company Superbet, it is officially known as the SuperLiga. It is the country's top ...

: 1984–85, 1985–86, 1986–87, 1987–88, 1988–89, 1992–93 *

: 1984–85, 1986–87, 1988–89 *

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

: 1985–86 *

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Iovan, Stefan 1960 births Living people Romanian footballers Romanian expatriate footballers Romania international footballers Liga I players Liga II players CSM Reșița players FC Steaua București players FC Rapid București players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players English Football League players Expatriate footballers in England FC Steaua București assistant managers CSA Steaua București managers Association football defenders Romanian football managers Romanian expatriate sportspeople in England